One year of Waukesha PD squad car video erased in IT mistake, dozens of criminal cases impacted

WAUKESHA Wis. (CBS 58) -- An IT mistake in Waukesha led to an entire year's worth of police squad car video being deleted. It's having a major impact on dozens of criminal cases throughout the city.

The video was accidentally deleted last June, according to a memo that was circulated internally then and recently shared with the media.

At the time, Waukesha PD did not have body cameras, so defense attorneys say in many cases the deleted squad car video was the only record of an incident.

Defense Attorney and former District Attorney Paul Bucher recalled learning of the mistake, saying, "I'm like, 'What? What do you mean deleted? How do you delete that?'"

Bucher found out about the missing video when he filed for them in court, only to be told they no longer exist.

A memo to the police chief explained how a city engineer accidentally deleted the video while trying to back it up through a complicated process. The memo closed: "At this time the MAVRS [Mobile Audio Video Recording System] video from June 30th, 2021 through June 30th, 2022 has been lost."

Bucher explained the importance of the video: "The tape doesn't lie. The tape has sealed convictions on many cases I did when I was a DA, and it has assisted me, not necessarily for an acquittal, but it has assisted me in deciding whether or not 'Do I want to challenge this case?'"

He said dozens of cases are impacted, especially DUI cases where field sobriety tests are key, and battery to an officer cases when it's an officer's word against the accused.

And Bucher will be in court soon trying another example: a driver facing charges after being pulled over for a broken taillight. He said, "My client told me, 'When I got into the squad car, I could clearly see my taillight was active!' And the officer said to him, 'It'll be on the tape.' The tape's gone."

Intentional destruction of evidence would be a serious crime, but Bucher said, "There's no basis to say this was intentional. And I don't have any basis to believe this was a reckless disregard."

Bucher said he checked back months later to see if any video had been recovered but was told no.

A Waukesha Police official said they are working with experts to recover the data that was lost, and in some cases there is still other video evidence available, like recorded interviews.

The city of Waukesha's IT Director, who sent out the original memo, declined comment and pointed to the police statement.

Dozens of cases are still without evidence that could help one party or the other.

Bucher said, "It's a problem because it's your word against the officer's word and my client has been consuming, you're going to lose that battle."

We reached out to District Attorney Sue Opper for an interview. She said the deleted video has been an issue for many cases and will likely continue to be an issue, but she declined to speak on camera.